Electric Beach

The concrete outfall at Electric Beach, just north of Cleethorpes, is one of those spots that shouldn't work but somehow does. Warm water discharged from Killingholme power station keeps this stretch of Lincolnshire coast ice-free in winter, which sounds industrial and grim until you realise what actually happens here.

Winter swimmers and hardy walkers come for the genuine novelty of it - you can stand on a freezing February beach while the water around the outfall stays liquid and genuinely warmer. It's become a proper pilgrimage point for wildlife photographers too. The warmth draws fish, which draws seals, which occasionally draws crowds of people pointing cameras at something genuinely unexpected on an English coast.

Don't expect facilities or visitor infrastructure. There's nowhere to change, no café, no interpretive boards. You park near Cleethorpes proper and walk out to find it yourself. The appeal is entirely in the oddness of the thing - that human industry has accidentally created something wildlife actually benefits from.

It works best as part of a wider Cleethorpes ramble rather than a dedicated trip. The walk up the beach takes thirty minutes from town, so factor that in. Families with young kids will find it more interesting in concept than practice - there's not much to do once you've spotted the seals. Winter visits make most sense, when the temperature contrast is most obvious. Haven Cleethorpes Beach Holiday Park sits just a couple of miles away, making it easy to tag onto a longer coastal break without much hassle.